JURISDICTIONAL RIGHTS IN BERING SEA. 285 



servwl — yielded 1 (»(),(>()(> skins each year. The Canadian intrnsions he- 

 ^an in 1S8<», and so great has been the damage resnlting from their 

 destrnetion of seal life in the open sea surrounding the Pribilof Islands, 

 that in 1800 the Government of the United ^States limited the Alaska 

 C(nni)any to (50,000 seals. But the Company Avas able to secure only 

 -51,000 seals. Under the same evil intiuenees that have l)een active 

 now for live seasons the seal fisheries will soon be utterly destoyed. 

 (heat Britain has been informed, advised, warned over and over again, 

 of the evil effects that would ilow from her course of action; but, against 

 testimony that amounts to demonstration, she has ju'eferred to abide 

 by personal re])resentations from Ottawa, by reports of commissioners 

 wdio examined nothing and heard nothing, except the testimony of 

 those engaged in the business against which the United States has 

 earnestly protested. She may i^ossibly be convinced of the damage if 

 she will send an intelligent coumiissioner to the Pribilof Islands. 



In general answer to all these facts, Great I>ritaiu announces that 

 she is willing to settle the dispute by arbitration. Her pr(H)osition is 

 contained in the following paragraph, which I quote in full: 



I have to request that you will comnmnicate a copy oi'this dispatch, and of its iu- 

 closures, to Mr. Elaine. You will state that Her Majesty's Government have no desire 

 whatever to refuse to the United States any jurisdiction in Behriug Seai wliich was 

 conceded by Great Britain to Russia, and which properly accrues to the present ])os- 

 sessors of Alaska m virtue of treaties or the law of nations; and that, if the United 

 States GoA^erninent, after examination of the evidence and arguments which I have 

 produced, still ditter from theiu as to the legality of the recent captures in that sea, 

 they are ready to agree that the question, with tlie issues that depend upon it, should 

 be referred to impartial arbitration. You will in that case be authorized to consider, 

 in concert with Mr. Blaine, the method of procedure to be followed. 



In his annual message, sent to Congress on the first of the present 

 month, the President, speaking in relation to the Bering Sea question, 

 said: 



The offer to submit the question to arbitration, as proposed by Her Majesty's Gov- 

 ernment, has not been accepted, for the reiison that the form of submission proposed 

 is not thought to be calculated to assure a conclusion satisfactory to either party. 



In the judgment of the President, nothing of importance would be 

 settled by proving that Great Britain conceded no jurisdiction to Russia 

 over the seal fisheries of the Behriug Sea. It might as well be proved 

 that Russia conceded no jurisdiction to England over the River Thames. 

 By doing nothing in each case everything is conceded. In neither case 

 is anything asked of the other. ''■ Concession," as used here, means 

 simply acquiescence in the rightfulness of the title, and that is the only 

 form of concession which Russia asked of Great Britain or which Great 

 Britain gave to Russia. 



The second offer of Lord Salisbury to arbitrate, amounts simply to a 

 submission of the question whether any country has a right to extend 

 its jurisdiction more than 1 marine league fiom the shore. No one 

 disputes that, as a rule; but the question is whether there may not be 

 exceptions whose enfor(;ement does not interfere with those highways 

 of commerce which the necessities and usage of the world have marked 

 out. Great Britain, when she desired an exception, did not stop to 

 consider or regard the inconvenience to which the commercial world 

 might be subjected. Her exception placed an obstacle in the highway 

 between continents. The United States, in protecting the seal "fisher- 

 ies, will not interfere with a single sail of commerce on any sea of the 

 globe. 



It will mean something tangible, in the President's opinion, if Great 

 Britain will consent to arbitrate the real questions wJiich have been 



